Pearl Jam Honors John Lennon & Bruce Springsteen In Lincoln

On Thursday night Seattle rockers Pearl Jam played their first show in Lincoln, Nebraska and loaded it with originals from throughout their career as well as a handful of choice covers. The band’s performance took place at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, a venue that’s not even a year old.

[Photo by Bill Grenfell]

The biggest surprise of the evening came as part of a five-song second encore, when Pearl Jam debuted a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Open All Night.” It was a fitting selection since “Open All Night” comes from Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska. Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder took an opportunity at the start of the first encore to pay tribute to the late John Lennon. Vedder celebrated what would’ve been John’s 74th birthday by delivering solo acoustic performances of “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and “Imagine.”

All in all, Pearl Jam treated Nebraska fans to a 33-song performance that included just as many songs from their most recent album, Lightning Bolt, as from their debut, Ten. In addition to the many originals and aforementioned covers, Pearl Jam’s Lincoln debut also featured covers of Van Halen’s “Eruption” and “Rockin’ In The Free World” by Neil Young.

Photo Gallery by Bill Grenfell:

Videos:

[Pearl Jam debuts cover of Springsteen’s Open All Night -Shared by AlZeppelin]

[Eddie Vedder covers Imagine -Shared by sgtmcgrail]

[Vedder’s Lennon banter + You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away -Shared by Corey Colvin]

Setlist: